Global lifestyle and performance brand Skechers has selected KNAPP as technology partner for one of Europe’s largest fashion and footwear automated logistics projects, with a footprint of around 230,000 m² (2,475,699 sq ft) and a planned capacity of more than 3.3 million storage locations.

Opening in stages that will be complete by mid-2030, the logistics centre in Liège, Belgium will start to supply the European market from a single location at the close of 2028 and will be designed to allow future growth. The new facility, which will handle up to 10 million pairs of shoes per month, represents one of the largest automation projects in the history of European fashion and footwear logistics.

The answer to growing capacity requirements

The existing European distribution centre (EDC) in Milmort in the province of Liège is reaching its capacity limits due to Skechers’ continued growth. The central objectives behind the new EDC are twofold: ensuring the distribution capacities for the long term in Europe and reducing manual processes to enable Skechers to stay competitive and take action flexibly. “For more than 23 years, Skechers has placed its trust in Wallonia as a strategic base for its European operations – and this new phase is the next chapter of our growth,” says David Weinberg, COO at Skechers. “This massive, automated and sustainable building puts us at the forefront of distribution to Europe and makes us fit for the future.”

The new tech standard for Europe’s footwear logistics

KNAPP is implementing an integrated process that handles all material flows from goods-in to goods-out in a single solution. At its heart is one of the largest Evo Shuttle systems in the world, which stores Skechers’ cartons across more than 3 million storage locations. Additional advancements include a shuttle system for replenishment and buffering, as well as goods-to-person workstations, an automatic pallet storage system and extensive conveyor and sorting systems.

All processes are interlinked thanks to the intelligent KiSoft software suite by KNAPP, maximising transparency, efficiency and scalability along the entire supply chain. The automation makes it possible to process a growing number of orders while keeping availability and service quality high. It has been designed to handle different carton and product sizes flexibly and supports Skechers’ future growth.

“This next-generation logistics centre was developed in close collaboration with Skechers’ teams and represents a huge technological milestone,” explains Oliver Lehner, Vice President Partner & Products Solutions at KNAPP. “The solution combines a high degree of integration and performance to efficiently handle large volumes and provide excellent service to end customers.”

Long-standing partnership as the success factor

The technical concept behind the solution was one of the key factors convincing Skechers to award the commission to KNAPP, along with the companies’ shared years of partnership, the innovative design of the technologies and KNAPP’s comprehensive service concept. KNAPP is not only helping Skechers implement the new EDC but will also support its ongoing operation with a Smart Maintenance approach. It unites predictive maintenance with a Resident Engineering team on site to ensure maximum system availability.

For KNAPP, the project is one of the most significant commissions in the fashion and lifestyle sector in recent years. The highly automated distribution centre that will be built in Belgium together with Skechers will set new standards with regard to scalability, performance and supply reliability.